Animal Crossing: New LeafReview

Some games are short but sweet, concluded after a single, glorious play session. Others require a few sleepless weeks of dedicated play to unlock all of their mysteries. Then there are the very few games that take on a whole digital life of their own – that become a part of the player’s daily ritual for years to come, with more to gain and accomplish than you could ever truly quantify. Animal Crossing: New leaf is one of the latter. It’s also one of the most charming, addictive games I’ve ever played.

There's a whole lot of "new" in New Leaf, but before I get to that, rest assured that the core mechanics that have kept gamers playing for years after the release of prior installments are as strong as ever. The main idea behind any Animal Crossing game is that players move into a new town and spend their days building up relationships with villagers, harvesting fruit, fishing, catching bugs, decorating their house, and tackling the almost innumerable other activities that comprise one’s Animal Crossing life. It doesn’t sound like a to-do list that would necessarily make for the most enthralling game, but that’s exactly what it amounts to. There’s something about the relaxing rhythm of each activity that keeps you coming back for more, bolstered by the subtle yet effective way the game incentivizes you to keep playing, keep collecting, and generally keep on keeping on.

Exit Theatre Mode

What sets New Leaf apart - and makes it a cut above the rest - is that the barriers laid down in past entries have largely been lifted, allowing for a sense of freedom, creation, and ownership like never before. As the acting Mayor (a first for the series), you’re now able to decorate not just the inside of your house, but the outside too, as well as your whole village. From the very outset you have a hand in deciding the layout of your village and the placement of your house, and eventually it’s all on you to decide the location of certain establishments (like The Roost and the Police Station), as well as to determine what decorations will grace your town and where they’ll go. You can place a miniature Stonehenge by the beach, a Zen bell by the train station, some streetlamps by your favorite villager’s house, or even surround your own place (which can be a castle, if you like) with fountains. The possibilities expand the more you play, as villagers keep making suggestions for possible Public Works projects to improve your town. You can even personalize specific pieces of furniture by taking them over to Cyrus at the resell shop, ensuring that your home and village will be quite distinct from anyone else’s.

Evolving your stomping ground in this way is irresistible, as over time you watch it grow from a simple collection of houses to something truly amazing and unique. Having this freedom to shape your village to reflect your personality like never before truly enriches the experience. It’s always been easy to fall in love with your village in Animal Crossing games, but now it really feels like your village, like a place you helped build from nothing, somewhere you really have a personal stake in. You’re not just a museum patron, you’re the one who funded its growth and filled its halls with fossils, fish, and bugs. You’re not just a club-goer, you’re the one who spear-headed the campaign to bring the music venue to your village in the first place. It’s a delightful improvement that makes the experience impossible to put down, as there’s always another project you can help fund and another thing you can do to set your village apart from the rest. The brilliant thing is that Nintendo found a way to expand upon the gameplay of past entries without compromising the simplicity and charm that made the series so beloved to begin with. This is the evolution of Animal Crossing, and it’s an absolute wonder to behold.

One of the most astounding things about New Leaf is how much there is to do. In just a few weeks I’ve put in well over a hundred hours, and there’s still so much I’d like to accomplish. In addition to the familiar activities, new additions like diving and swimming allow you to explore and interact with your town in a whole new way. It’s refreshing, and a whole lot of fun. Completing public works projects, customizing furniture, and visiting the variety of shops across the tracks will also take up their fair share of time, and Nintendo fans will be pleased to know that there’s now a whole range of Big N items you can acquire to decorate your house with (so if you’re interested in getting a Triforce or Metroid for your living room, be sure to buy those fortune cookies on sale in the Nook brothers’ shop). Throw in new holidays, new characters (like Reese and Cyrus from the resell shop), new clothing options (pants!), new furniture and so on, and you’re left with an experience that is fresh, yet familiar. Simple, yet refined.

Wish for lots of bells!! And, uh, world peace.

Then there’s the multiplayer, which is far beyond anything the series has ever attempted previously. As expected you can visit your friends’ houses either online or locally – dropping off gifts if you’re a good friend or chopping down their trees and messing up their flowers if you’re a big jerk. But that’s just the start. You can also visit “dream versions” of other villages in the Dream Suite. This allows players to upload their town for friends and strangers alike to visit. The genius part is that nothing visitors do actually affects the person’s real town since it’s just a dream. So you can go crazy stomping flowers and pissing off neighbors without paying the consequence of never being invited over again. Getting to be so bad without any negative repercussions is cathartic to say the least, and is a great way to encourage you to open your village to outsiders without the risk of a rude visitor ruining your town (and your day).

For players who crave a more corporeal form of interaction, you can also engage in a series of delightful mini-games with players across the globe on Resort Island, headed up by the former Animal Crossing mayor, Tortimer. The island’s perpetual summer is rather relaxing, and provides a great opportunity to stock up on seasonal fruit, beetles, and sharks for the selling. It’s also convenient that you are fully able to enjoy the island and its diversions all by yourself if, for whatever reason, you don’t feel like going online. Finally, StreetPass has been utilized to allow you to view the houses of anyone you pass who has a copy of the game. It’s really cool getting to see everyone’s different decorating styles, as well as being able to purchase the items that catch your eye. In a way, it creates the illusion of a persistent game world for you and your StreetPass friends, which is a nice touch.

While the customization, variety, and multiplayer are certainly the highlights, pretty much everything in New Leaf has been refined to make this as delightful an experience as possible. The simple graphics have been touched up so that fuzzy animals are now actually fuzzy and larger animals tower over the smaller ones. Little things like being able to group fruit together in your inventory so you can carry more, donate multiple fossils at the same time, or tell which flowers you’ve watered thanks to a new sparkling effect go a long way towards making the small chores that pack your day-to-day life easier than ever. These might seem like small details barely worth noting, but anyone who has ever played Animal Crossing will likely agree that, much like in life, it's all in the details.

The Verdict

Animal Crossing: New Leaf isn’t just a game – it’s a whole new world full of lovable characters and insurmountable charm. A world where you'll sometimes find a Metroid or a Triforce in a fortune cookie, where you can arrange your surroundings to perfectly suit your tastes, and where the Mayor still chips in at the local coffee joint. Every day feels different from the last, like you’re living out a separate (and wonderful) life with your wacky villagers. There’s always something to work toward, something to look forward to, something to be proud of or to remember fondly. New Leaf is a truly magical game, one that you can easily expect to invest hundreds of hours in over the course of years. Anyone with access to a 3DS should absolutely give this game a try - just be prepared to kiss your “real” life goodbye.